Master chef Giovanni Pasquale Ciotti is the brilliant, creative head of Las Vegas' best gourmet buffet, the Emperor's Feast "Gourffet" at the luxurious Grand Forum Hotel and Casino. He is meticulous in seeing that the 25,000-square-foot Gourffet adheres to the highest standards of quality, and that it presents its diners with the most creative delectables anywhere.

So, Chef Nonny is stunned to learn that a low-rent buffet off the Strip has begun attracting huge crowds, and that they seem strangely compelled to eat there. The situation has become so extreme that riots have erupted and police have been called in.

He investigates to discover evidence that the buffet is adulterating its dishes with some sort of substance that seems to produce a profoundly addictive effect on people.

Determined to get to the bottom of what he sees as a travesty, and even a danger, he joins with FBi agent Alana Chun and eccentric FDA Food Safety Officer Mary Louette Baumgartner, to track down the culprit.

Their intrepid investigations of the team leads to neuropharmacologist Edwin Kane, who had created the ultimate computer model of the human gustatory system.

He used this computer model to secretly develop a drug called gustatene that gives any food an irresistible, highly addictive taste. He seeks to salvage his reputation with the stunning discovery.

The chase is on, and the scientist and his formula are pursued by, not only Chef Nonny and Baumgartner, but drug dealers, food industry spies, the military, and vegan terrorists, called Veganites.

While all these groups want the formula for their own ends, the FDA is attempting to stop the scientist and procure the formula.

The food industry spies see gustatene as the ultimate food additive that would enable them to make their foods blatantly addictive.

The drug dealers see gustatene as a highly profitable product.

The military and Veganite terrorists see gustatene as an ultimate weapon of mass destruction. After all, when gustatene is sprayed on people, they collapse in a mad feeding frenzy--on each other!

In a dramatic climax, the intrepid chef and scientist manage to outwit them all, stopping the scientist and procuring the formula.

The Tasty Bomb will not only be a science thriller, but a revelatory novel about the ubiquity and dangers of the massive industry of food additives and manufactured foods.